United Front
by IrishDipstick
Summary: No idea what's gonna happen, but it may include a wedding. Warning - may or may not contain spanking of a minor.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters._

_**Chapter 1**_

_Being banned from watching TV, music and playing games was driving Taylor absolutely nuts, and she still had a full week left. It just wasn't natural to actually look forward to going to school. Still, she didn't exactly have a choice in the matter, her dad had been watching her like a hawk. After a lot of yelling and a particularly nasty swat, he had even managed to confiscate her old mp3 player, the one she had stashed for emergencies just like this. Same thing happened when she managed to track down her first game boy, only with more yelling and two swats. The tension in the house was increasing rapidly, in proportion to Taylor's boredom, and when her dad announced he was going to be away for a few days again, she was actually relieved. The way it had been going, someone was gonna end up murdered, and Taylor was pretty sure that she would be the most likely victim. Taylor was positive Patricia would be much easier to get round, now all she had to figure out was how. Even if it didn't work, it would be a good opportunity to find out exactly what she could and couldn't get away with._

_Taylor waited for about half an hour after her father left, before joining Patricia in the living room where she was watching TV. As soon as she sat down though, the TV was switched off, and Patricia picked up her book and began to read._

"_What'd you do that for?" Taylor whined._

_Patricia looked over the top of the book at her. "You know you're not allowed to watch TV yet. Have you finished your homework?" When Taylor didn't answer she continued. "Didn't think so. That'll give you something to do if you're bored."_

_With a loud sigh, which did not result in any sympathy, Taylor left Patricia to her reading and headed upstairs again. Instead of going into her own room though, she made a bee line for her dad's room with the portable TV. Making herself comfortable on the bed she flicked through the channels until she found something worth watching. Taylor was able to watch a whole movie, before deciding she'd chanced her arm enough for one night. She slipped back into her own room feeling pretty pleased with herself and went to bed._

_Okay, Taylor didn't exactly have a reason she could give Patricia the following day when she didn't have any homework to hand in, but it had been worth it. All she could do was shrug and say she'd forgotten about it. Patricia wasn't impressed, and made her do it at lunch, but she didn't lose her temper. That was promising, it was time to step it up a bit. Taylor liked a challenge, and at least she wasn't bored any more._

_Taylor waited until Patricia was fixing dinner in the kitchen, before grabbing her skates and hightailing it out the front door. She was finally free, and if Patricia was gonna kick off later, Taylor was going to have to make sure she made the most of it. _

_It was amazing just to be able to skate again, she'd chosen a different park, a bit further away, well maybe a lot further away. Even though Jason wasn't around, on account of the fact he was still grounded, just like her, there were still plenty of others there. Not willing to go home until she absolutely had to, Taylor waited until the park was deserted, before reluctantly changing into her sneakers again and starting the long walk home. In retrospect the step up she had taken, might have been a little bit bigger than she'd anticipated. Taylor was starting to notice just how deserted the streets were. She had no watch on, and with no phone she had absolutely no idea what time it was, but she was getting this nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach that it was a lot later than she'd thought. This feeling was only confirmed when Patricia pulled up along side her in the car, face like thunder. Taylor hadn't seen her this mad since they'd been caught with the gun._

_Reaching over Patricia pulled the lever and opened the passenger door. "Get in."_

_Taylor dumped her skates into the trunk before climbing in beside her, with the mantra 'act like you've done nothing wrong' running through her head._

_As soon as Taylor clicked her seatbelt on, Patricia indicated and pulled away from the kerb. It didn't look as if she was going to say anything else, or start yelling, so Taylor relaxed a little. Then she caught a glimpse of the dashboard clock, both the mantra and her confidence vanished. It was almost eleven. Taylor shrunk down in her seat, suddenly worried she'd taken her experiment just a bit too far._

_It took a few minutes for Taylor to pick up the nerve to speak. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was that late."_

_She realised just how much trouble she was actually in when Patricia didn't even glance round at her, just increased her grip on the steering wheel. Taylor hoped that it was only her imagination that Patricia's knuckles were starting to turn white with the increased force. Not wanting to make a bad situation any worse, she decided it might just be in her own best interest to shut up._


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 2**

As Taylor found herself being dragged up the path and into the house she began to worry that she'd seriously underestimated Patricia. This was getting way out of hand, it was only an experiment after all. She wasn't released until she was seated at the table in the kitchen. Patricia didn't sit down, choosing instead to stand uncomfortably close, glaring down at her. Taylor swallowed hard, it was time to dig herself out of the hole she was in.

"I can explain."

"Go ahead. I'd like to hear the reason I've just spent the last four hours combing the streets trying to find you. When you're done explaining that, you can also tell me why you left the house when you know you're grounded, didn't tell anyone where you were going, and why you were wandering about on your own at this time of the night. Anyone could have pulled you into their car."

"You're making it sound way worse than it was."

"Well what was it Taylor?"

"It was…..I was just kinda…" She wasn't exactly sure how to put it, it had sounded so much better in her head. Taylor closed her eyes before speaking again. "I was bored and just tryin' to see how much it took to make you mad. Like an experiment."

Silence.

Taylor opened her eyes again. Patricia was sitting opposite her now, but still didn't look any happier.

"You like science. Right?"

It shouldn't have been possible, but Patricia actually looked angrier now.

The phone in the living room rang.

"Corner, and don't you dare move!"

Grateful for the temporary reprieve Taylor slid her chair out and stood in the corner Patricia pointed to.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

When Patricia returned after what Taylor figured must have been half an hour but was actually only ten minutes. "You can sit down again."

She decided to go on the offensive. "I wanna go to bed."

"Not yet."

Taylor slowly sat down again, not taking her eyes off Patricia, trying to determine if she was any calmer.

"I've got school tomorrow you know, and I wanna make sure I can pay attention. I can't do that if I'm tired."

"Even you can't believe that!"

"You sure you're allowed to make me stand in the corner?"

"I thought your dad talked to you about what would happen if you got into trouble when he wasn't around."

Taylor hesitated before answering. "Maybe."

"Do you want me to call him, and let him explain it to you again?"

This time she answered much faster. "No, you don't have to do that. I was just checking in case you got into trouble." For good measure she added, "He's probably asleep anyway, and you wouldn't want to wake him up."

"He's not sleeping."

That took the wind out of her sails. "He's not? How do you know ?"

"Who do you think was on the phone?"

"You told him?" Her offence had suddenly switched to defence. "Why'd you do that? It was just a test, I wanted to see what would happen, I didn't think you'd get mad, and I had no idea how late it was!"

"You were trying to see how far you could push me?"

"Yeah." Finally she'd got it. "I found out how far." Taylor shrugged and started to stand up. "Now we've got that sorted, I'm going to bed."

"Sit down. Just because you're going to end up with a lot more than you'd bargained for, does not mean it's not going to happen."

Taylor lowered herself back onto the chair. "But I thought.."

"I know what you thought, and if you think that justifies sneaking out, when .."

"I did not sneak out! I just left, the alarm wasn't on. Not the same thing."

"You left the house, when you were grounded, without telling me. That's sneaking out Taylor."

Taylor shook her head, not willing to admit it. This was rapidly heading in the wrong direction.

"No one knew where you where either, that's one of the reasons you're already grounded. So don't even try to talk your way out of that one, and how dangerous do you think it was walking home on your own at this time of the night. Anyone could have pulled you into their car, and you wouldn't have been able to do a thing about it. There's a lot of bad people out there!"

"I told you, I didn't know what time it was!"

"Is that what you were going to tell the psycho when he dragged you off?"

Taylor suddenly found the surface of the table interesting. There wasn't much she could say to that."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"What are you gonna do?" Taylor finally looked back up at Patricia.

"What would your dad do?"

"You're not my dad."

Patricia ignored that comment and just repeated the question. "What would your dad do?"

Taylor thought for a moment. "Well I've never tested anyone like that before, so he'd probably tell me to make sure I don't stay out so late the next time. It being a first offence and all."

"You want to answer that question honestly this time? If not we can always throw in lying to your list of crimes."

"You can't!"

"Can't what?"

"Spank me."

"Look at me Taylor." She waited until she had eye contact. "I'm not going to let you put yourself in danger anymore than your dad does."

"You couldn't have told me that before?"

"I didn't think I had to. You also know what happens when you deliberately disobey your dad don't you?"

"Well yeah, but…"

"You're not going to talk your way out of this Taylor, now go on up and put your pyjamas on, I'll be up in a few minutes when I've locked up."

When she didn't move, Patricia gently pulled her up from the chair and pointed her in the direction of the stairs. "Go!"

XOXOXOXOXOXO

As Taylor sat on her bed she tried to convince herself that at least it was Patricia she was waiting for, not her dad. Hell, this should be a walk in the park, compared to that belt of her dads. This was definitely the lesser of two evils. She checked the clock again, how long did it take to lock a couple of doors?

When Patricia eventually appeared and sat beside her Taylor kept her eyes firmly on the floor. She didn't struggle as Patricia pulled her across her lap, just closed her eyes tightly and hoped it would be quick. When the first swat landed Taylor opened her eyes wide in a mixture of shock and surprise, and cried out in protest. That was definitely not a hand! Instinctively she tried to push herself off, but Patricia just held her tighter and kept smacking. Twisting round Taylor tried to see what she was using, because whatever it was, it left one hell of a fierce sting behind. It took a few seconds to actually recognise the instrument of torture that already had her crying. It was a wooden spoon, and Patricia knew how to use it. This was definitely not a woman Taylor wanted to piss off again. By the time Patricia lifted her back up again Taylor was a mess of tears. Not sure what to do now, she stood where she was, trying to dry her face with her sleeves and get the sobs under control.

"Come here."

Patricia didn't sound angry any more, so Taylor edged closer, not really wanting to admit that what she wanted was a hug. Taylor didn't res ist though, when Patricia did just that, holding her for a while, before pulling back the covers for her to climb into bed.

"Are you still mad at me?"

Patricia smiled and shook her head. "No. Do you know how far you can push me now?"

"Yeah, I think I got that."

"That's good, just try and remember that the next time. I really don't like having to use that wooden spoon."

"I don't like it whole lot either." Taylor curled up on her side, she was tired.

"Night Taylor." Patricia switched off the lamp, before retreating downstairs. Jethro would be waiting for a phone call.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor woke up about three o'clock. If she'd been having a nightmare, she couldn't remember what it was, but she knew exactly what she was worrying about now and just couldn't get it out of her head. Throwing back the covers she climbed out of bed and made her way across the landing and into her dad's room. Patricia must have heard her coming, because she sat up as Taylor approached the side of the bed.

"What's wrong?"

Taylor shrugged. "I was just checking you were still here."

"Why wouldn't I be here?"

She shrugged again. "Dunno, maybe you were still mad at me."

"I'm not still mad at you, and I'm not going anywhere." She slid over towards Jethro's side of the bed before patting the space she'd created and holding the quilt up.

Taylor didn't think twice before climbing in beside her and curling up.

"You sure you're not going anywhere?"

"I'm sure, now go to sleep, you're going to be cranky enough tomorrow as it is."

Finally content, she closed her eyes before whispering "I don't get cranky."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 3**

Taylor did end up cranky the following morning, but the spoon sticking out of the jar gave her just enough incentive to keep her bad mood under control. As Patricia ushered her out to the car she decided she would have to do something about that.

She was surprised she had made it through class without falling asleep, but now Taylor was home, and fed, she didn't want to go to bed anymore. The fact she had nothing to do, well nothing she wanted to do, didn't make any difference, sleep could wait. She poked about in her bedroom for a while before making herself comfortable on the living room floor, with a few old comic books she'd found.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Patricia let her lie there for a while before deciding to try and talk her into doing something a little more constructive.

"You do realise you've got exams coming up in a few weeks, isn't it about time you started to revise?"

Taylor looked at her as if she'd just grown another head. "I don't."

"Don't what."

"Revise."

"Ever?"

Taylor shook her head.

"Why not?"

"It's bad enough the first time round."

"You can't be serious!"

"I pass don't I?" Taylor shrugged.

"Only just!"

"Hey a pass is a pass! Suits me just fine. Besides, I thought school was supposed to stay in school?" This conversation needed to stop. She put the comic down and stood up. "I'd better do my homework."

"Wait, this is important Taylor, Please, I just want you to tell me the truth."

"What's the big deal?"

"Does your dad know you don't study for tests?" Patricia couldn't believe that Jethro would let her get away with that.

"Not exactly."

"What do you mean, not exactly?"

"He says a pass is good, as long as I try."

"And you try?"

"Sure. I try and answer just enough of the questions to get forty percent."

"You stop when you think you've done enough to pass?"

"What would be the point in doing anymore, I'd just have to make sure I did as well the next time. Can I go now?"

"Do you have any of your papers from last year?" Patricia wasn't sure she believed what she was hearing. It sounded like Taylor's logic alright, but she couldn't understand how no one would have picked up on it before.

"Maybe."

"Can I see them?"

"Why would you wanna see old papers?" This was getting weird.

"Please?"

Taylor sighed. "I'll see what I can find." She disappeared up the stairs and returned a few minutes later with a handful of papers.

Patricia sifted through them, checking the grades. All were passes ranging from forty to forty five percent.

"See, I didn't fail any!" Assuming that would satisfy Patricia she lay on the floor again and picked up the comic, but Patricia took it away and replaced it with one of the tests.

"You got forty percent on this one."

Taylor looked at the grade. "Yeah, so?"

"Try it again now, but this time do it properly."

"Why would I wanna do that?"

"Okay, you want a little incentive." Patricia tried to think of something to tempt Taylor with. "For every extra ten percent you can get, I'll let you watch an hour of TV."

"Even though I'm not supposed to?"

Patricia nodded.

"It's not a trap?" It sounded a bit too good to be true.

"No trap Taylor. Do we have a deal?"

Taylor nodded, and took the pencil Patricia held out. She looked at the questions. "One hour, for each ten percent, right?"

"Right."

Taylor started to fill in the missing answers, chewing on the end of the pencil as she thought. When she was done Taylor quickly added up the extra marks she thought she would get, hoping she'd remembered enough to cover a couple of movies, and handed it to Patricia for her to mark. While she waited, Taylor tried to locate the TV guide, there was bound to be something good on. Hell, she wasn't that fussy, anything would do.

Patricia marked the paper, then checked it again. She looked over at Taylor, who was now sitting on the couch, remote in one hand, TV guide in the other, ready to go. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't understand how Taylor's mind worked.

"Can I switch it on now?"

"Don't you want to know how many hours you earned?"

"Four. Right?"

Nodding, Patricia glanced down at the new grade, exactly eighty percent.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor went to bed happy, she had been allowed to watch a whole movie and she still had two hours left over for tomorrow night. Today had gone so much better than yesterday, and she hadn't even landed herself in any more trouble.

When she discovered her dad in the kitchen the following morning however, her optimism took a bit of a knock.

"You're back." Taylor sat down at the table, trying not to look guilty.

"Uh huh. Did you behave yourself?"

"You already know I didn't."

"Do you have a good reason why I shouldn't take my belt off right now?"

Taylor slid a bit further back on the chair. "Patricia already spanked me. You said I'd regret it if I didn't let Patricia punish me, and I let her, you can't punish me twice for the same thing. She smacked me with a spoon!" Taylor shook her head at the memory.

"With a spoon?"

"Yeah, the one in the jar behind you."

Gibbs turned round. "Taylor, there's no spoon there." He knew his eyes weren't that bad, and looked at her suspiciously. "Did you hide it?"

"Nope, it's still there. You're just not lookin' close enough."

He looked again, but still couldn't see it. "Show me."

Taylor stood up, and made sure butt out of range as she passed him. She reached for the jar and removed the spatula and other implements before handing him the jar. "There!"

Gibbs looked into the container before tipping it's contents onto the counter. The wooden spoon fell out, in four neatly sawed up pieces.

"You cut it up?"

She nodded seriously, but kept her eyes on what was left of the wooden spoon. "I'm not takin' any chances."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 4**

Patricia waited until after dinner when they were left on their own to breach the subject with Jethro. Taylor had disappeared into the living room, determined to use up her remaining TV credits. Gibbs spun round when he heard the TV on in the next room and was just about to go and confront Taylor when Patricia stopped him.

"We need to talk."

He didn't like the sound of that, but sat down again anyway, and watched curiously as Patricia retrieved a handful of papers from a drawer, before sitting down opposite him. She wasn't exactly sure where to start, so she slid copies she'd made that day of Taylor's old reports in front of him.

Gibbs glanced over them quickly, but couldn't see a problem. He waited for her to explain.

"Taylor and I had a very interesting conversation last night. Seems she doesn't believe in revising for exams."

"I know she doesn't like it, and kicks up a fuss, but I still make her do it." He glanced back at her grades. "The grades aren't good, but she must make an effort, she never fails anything."

"Let me guess, you think she tries her best, so you don't want to push her too much."

"You're telling me Taylor cheated?"

"No."

"Then what?" He hadn't a clue what was going on.

Patricia pointed at the reports. "Do you notice anything about the actual marks?"

Looking over the marks, he shrugged. "Only the fact that they're all just over forty percent."

She nodded. "Taylor has a little system going. She only answers enough questions to pass. Then stops."

"Why the hell would she do that?"

"To make sure she doesn't have to worry about working to keep the grade up. She's figured out you're happy enough with her scraping through."

He shook his head and grinned. "You're sure Taylor's not just winding you up?"

"I didn't believe it either, but yes, I'm pretty sure." Patricia passed him the questions Taylor had answered the night before. "I told her she could watch an hour of TV for each additional ten percent she was able to get on one of last years exams."

Gibbs stared at the new grade. "She doubled the original mark?"

Patricia nodded.

"You sure she didn't just play you, because she was bored?" It still didn't make a lot of sense to him.

"There's only one way to find out."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor glanced up from the TV when her dad and Patricia entered the room, but then quickly turned her attention back to the screen, the programme was almost over and she didn't want to miss the end. When the end credits started to roll, Patricia reached for the remote and switched it off.

"Hey, I still have forty five minutes left."

"Do you want to earn some more?"

Taylor checked out what her father was doing before she answered. He was reading the paper, but he had seemed okay with her watching the TV. "How?"

Patricia handed her a new sheet of questions.

"How much?"

"Same deal, ten percent gets you one hour."

Taylor scanned through the questions.

"We have a deal?"

"Uh huh." Taylor grabbed a pencil and started writing.

Half an hour later and Taylor was finished. When she was done, she handed it to Patricia and reached for the control, confident she'd earned enough to make the rest of her grounding much easier. She didn't notice Patricia and her dad slip out of the room as she surfed through the channels.

"Well?" Gibbs was pacing up and down the kitchen, as Patricia read through the answers.

She added the marks up and handed him the paper.

"Eighty two percent? You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

"That's just, just …."

"I think the word you're looking for is devious."

"That's just one of them!"

"So, what are we going to do?"

"You mean apart from murder her?"

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor poked her head in through the door to see Patricia. "So how many hours did I get?"

"Eight."

Smiling she ducked back out again.

"Not so fast. Get back here!"

Taylor reappeared. "But I wanna watch…"

"Too bad." Gibbs interrupted her and pushed the chair opposite him out with his foot. "Sit."

Doing as she was told, albeit reluctantly, she sat down. It took Taylor a few seconds to realise what the sheets of paper were on the table, but when she did she immediately glared over at Patricia.

"You said it wasn't a trick!"

"It wasn't, you'll still get your eight hours."

Taylor relaxed and leant back in the chair. "That's okay then." She looked back at her dad. " So what do you want?"

"I want you to tell me what's been going on in that head of yours."

"What do you mean?

"I mean why the hell have you been deliberately screwing up your grades?"

"They're my grades, I can do what I want with them."

Her father leaned towards her. "You're my daughter, and you'll do what I tell you to."

"I'm not changing my system."

"You are!"

Taylor shook her head. "Not."

When Gibbs let out a growl and stood up to grab his daughter, Patricia gently pulled him back down again. "Taylor if you don't do the best you can, you're only selling yourself short."

That was it, Taylor had heard enough. She wasn't gonna sit here and be insulted. Standing up she pushed back the chair, knocking it over, before yelling at Patricia. "I AM NOT SHORT!" Then bolted for her bedroom, slamming the door loudly behind her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.**

**Chapter 5**

Patricia stopped Gibbs going after Taylor. "Let her go Jethro, you're not going to get through to her when she's that worked up."

"Oh, I'll get through to her alright." There was no way he was going to let her get away with behaving like that.

"Honestly, I could bang your two heads together sometimes. You're both as stubborn as each other. Punishing her is not going to work this time, it'll just make her dig her heels in, or find another way round it. She's smart enough to figure it out for herself given the chance, she just needs a gentle push in the right direction."

"But…"

"Let me talk to her first. If that doesn't work, we'll do it your way.

Gibbs held his hands up. "Okay, go for it." When she smiled he added, "You know you make a pretty good mom."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor was lying on her bed just staring at the ceiling, when someone knocked on her door. If it was her dad he wouldn't have bothered knocking, so it had to be Patricia.

"Go away, I'm not talking to you!"

Patricia came in anyway and sat beside her. "Selling yourself short doesn't have anything to do with someone's height."

"It doesn't?"

"No, it means you don't get the credit you deserve."

"Oh….." Taylor felt like an idiot. "Sorry."

"You know your dad was really impressed when he saw the score you got on the test."

"He was?" She sat up. "He didn't look it, that was definitely mad."

"Yeah, that was mad, but only because now he knows you're capable of a lot more, and he doesn't want to see you waste it."

"It's not wasted, it's still stuck in my head. What difference does a grade make?"

"Well for a start, if you put in a little work, you might just be able to knock Hannah off her top spot."

Taylor grinned. "She wouldn't like that very much."

"I know, but she could do with a bit of competition."

"You really think I could beat her?"

"I think you could give her a pretty good run for her money."

Patricia gave her a moment to think about it before changing the subject.

"You don't really think you're short do you? You've grown a lot since September."

"I have? It doesn't feel like it."

Patricia nodded seriously. "Definitely. Now how about you make a start on your homework, then you can use up some of your TV time."

"You think it's safe to go back down there?" Taylor had been planning to stay right where she was.

"It's safe."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Jethro was still waiting in the living room when Patricia returned.

"So?"

"We'll just have to wait and see, but I'm fairly confident she'll put in a lot more effort this time."

"Well what did you say to her?"

Patricia smilled at him. "If it works, then I'll tell you."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"Then you'll never know, will you?"

"That sounds a bit suspicious. You didn't bribe her did you?"

Patricia shook her head.

"Threaten her?"

"No. Now give it up, I'm not saying anything more, you'll just have to learn to be patient.

This time it was his turn to shake his head. "Women!"

XOXOXOXOXOXO

When Taylor finished her homework she made her way back downstairs and hovered in the doorway, trying to make sure her dad wasn't gonna start yelling again. He didn't look angry anymore, so she went to him when he beckoned her over with his finger. When she was close enough he reached out and pulled her onto his lap.

"We have something to tell you."

Taylor looked from one to the other. "Is it good or bad?"

It was Patricia who answered. "Well we think it's good."

"Does that mean I won't?"

Gibbs started to tickle her. "If you'd stop asking questions we might be able to tell you."

Giggling, she tried to wriggle away. "Okay, okay, tell me."

"We're getting married."

She could see they were both waiting anxiously for her reaction, but she couldn't resist it. "To who?"

"Not funny!" The tickling attack resumed.

"I'm only kidding, that's good. Now quit tickling me!" He stopped and gave her a chance to get her breath back.

"So you're happy then?"

She nodded "Yep. Is it gonna be soon?"

"Just as soon as we can get everything organised."

Then a nasty thought struck her. "Wait a minute, I don't have to wear a dress do I?"

"I think you can put up with a dress for one day." He waited for Taylor to start arguing, but she just turned her attention to Patricia.

"Are you sure you wanna marry him?"

"Hey! This is one wedding you're definitely not getting out of."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

The next couple of weeks were just wedding, wedding, wedding. Taylor couldn't wait until it was all over. Patricia had taken her shopping for something to wear, and of course it had to be a dress, but she was so excited Taylor didn't have the heart to protest. There were some upsides though, Jason was allowed to come to the wedding, to keep her company, and Abby was going to stay with her for a week, while the newly weds went on honeymoon.

Then something happened, something with the potential to make it an even better week than Taylor could ever have hoped for. It presented Taylor with an opportunity she was never gonna be able to resist. I mean it wasn't her fault Patricia decided to join her when she was sitting at the kitchen table doing her homework. Okay it may be her own fault that she wasn't allowed to do her homework in her room any more, apparently now she had to be supervised, but it wasn't her fault when she saw Patricia log onto her laptop. Or when she watched her type in her password to the school website, and it certainly wasn't her fault if she suddenly became aware that it was possible to access the class registers in that way. With a substitute teacher for a week, one Patricia wouldn't get a chance to meet, all Taylor would have to do, would be to log on and change the register, after spending a whole week doing whatever she wanted to do. It was fool proof. Hell, that even took the sting out of wearing a dress.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 6**

The day of the wedding finally arrived. Taylor had been worried that Jason might have given her a hard time about her clothes, but one look at him in his new suit and she knew she was safe. The ceremony was extremely boring, but there wasn't much she could do about it sitting in between her grandpa and Abby, and photographs weren't much fun either. The reception was better however, well after the speeches anyway. Jason and Taylor found the perfect hiding spot under one of the large tables against the wall. They had both come prepared with their PSPs, and after liberating some food and drinks, made themselves comfortable, it was gonna be a long night.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs and Patricia had a flight to catch, so they were leaving early. Abby was running around in a flap trying to find Taylor, her dad wanted a word with her before they left. Finally, with nowhere left to look she picked up the courage to tell Gibbs she had already lost his daughter. She was surprised when he didn't look worried. Putting his finger and thumb in his mouth he gave an ear piercing whistle. Taylor appeared from under the table and made her way over to her father and Patricia, standing at the opposite side of the room. Her dad knelt down in front of her. Taylor knew this was the 'stay out of trouble' talk, so she figured she'd get it over with quickly.

"I know dad, behave myself, do what Abby tells me, stay out of trouble, and if I don't I'm not gonna like what happens, right?"

He nodded. "Right, glad we got that sorted. Now do we get a hug before we leave?"

Taylor hugged him. "Bye dad." Then hugged Patricia. She whispered just loud enough for her to hear. "Bye mom." She didn't hang around for Patricia's reaction, instead ran across the room and disappeared under the table again. Jason was still there, and had actually managed to swipe a half full bottle of champagne. Let the week of fun begin.

Gibbs watched his daughter crawl under the table before turning to his new wife. "Did she just say what I think she did?"

Patricia nodded, she was still looking in Taylor's direction.

"Are you okay with it? Because I can talk to her if you aren't."

"No, I like it, it feels right. I just wasn't expecting it."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor shared her plan with Jason on Sunday when she got back from visiting Dorothy. Abby had volunteered to take her, after meeting Dorothy for the first time at the wedding the day before. Jason didn't say much about what she was going to do at first, but Taylor could see he was thinking about it. From the look on his face she guessed she wouldn't be spending the week alone. He wasn't any better at resisting temptation than she was.

"Where are you gonna go? You'll only get picked up at the skate park, or the mall. If you want to stay at home you won't be able to get past the alarm, besides my mom would probably notice you were there."

She grinned at him. "I've got the keys to Patricia's house. No security system, but there is a TV and DVD player. It's perfect."

"Do you think you could change my attendance register." Hook, line and sinker.

"Yeah, but you'll still need a note to say you were sick, if you can do that, I can change it on the site later." Taylor had already checked it was possible, just in case.

"That's easy, I'll type it up, and you can forge the signature, you're good at that."

Taylor nodded. "You think you can sneak your PS3 out? Abby would notice if mine was gone."

"Oh yeah, that's easy. A whole week with no school. Can't wait!"

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Everything went to plan. Each morning that week, Taylor and Jason left for school together, going instead to Patricia's house. It was the perfect place to hide out in, being set well back from the road, and surrounded by a tall hedge. Each day, before the walk home they made sure they left everything as they'd found it, just to be safe. They spent the week playing games, watching movies and a few times when it was dry enough they were able to make use of the back yard for both football and soccer. As they checked the house for the final time on Friday afternoon, double checking they hadn't left any evidence, both agreed, their unauthorised holiday had been a complete success. Now all they had to do was come up with a letter, and change their attendance on the school system and all their tracks would be covered. It had been so easy, it was something they would consider doing again if the right circumstances ever presented themselves again.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Due to the fact that Taylor was having so much fun during the day she was the perfect angel for Abby. Homework, or the lack of it was the only problem Taylor was faced with. She did have to lie to get out of that one, telling Abby she did it when she was waiting at Jason's for her to come home. Abby didn't see any reason to question this, solving the only flaw in the plan they'd managed to overlook. Taylor was confident they'd thought of everything else, and once she changed the register for both of them on Friday night and signed Jason's later all the loose ends were well and truly tied up.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

There wasn't much to do on a Saturday when it was wet, so Taylor was stretched out on the couch reading a comic, waiting for the rain to stop.

Abby bounced into the room. "Come on, you've been good all week, we're going shopping."

"Shopping?" Taylor didn't think that was much of a reward, more like a punishment.

"Yeah, the fun kind."

"You sure there's a fun kind?"

"Course there is, and I think it's about time you had your first tattoo."

She looked at Abby through narrowed eyes. "Now I know you've lost the plot, you're trying to get me killed!"

"Not a real one, I don't wanna die either, a henna one, washes off after a few weeks."

"Can I get a web like yours?"

Abby started jumping up and down, clapping her hands, pigtails flying. "Oh that's perfect, matching tattoos!"

Taylor went to grab her coat, before Abby changed her mind. Maybe this was gonna be good after all.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 7**

When Taylor spotted her mom and dad walking through the airport she launched herself at them. Gibbs caught her in a hug, before letting her do the same to Patricia. Abby was just as excited to see them both, but stopped abruptly, just out of reach when she noticed the way Gibbs was looking at Taylor.

"Abby, what the hell have you done to our daughter?"

Taylor was dressed in her new clothes Abby had helped her pick. Black leather boots complete with buckles, black combats covered with chains, and a t-shirt with a large skull partially hidden by an equally black shirt. Apart from the hair she was a mini Abby. Then he spotted it. He lifted Taylor's chin up and turned her head to the side, staring in horror at the tattoo on her neck.

"That thing better not be real!"

"Relax Gibbs it's henna, it'll wash off in a few weeks." Abby was starting to think the tattoo might not have been such a good idea, and from the expression on his face she was sure he was gonna make that perfectly clear later on.

Taylor took a step back just in case she was in trouble. "But I'm not gonna wash it, I like it."

Abby looked down at Taylor and stuck her tongue out at her. "You couldn't have waited until I was gone before you told him that?"

XOXOXOXOXOXO

On Monday morning Taylor was extremely nervous, she wouldn't know whether or not they'd got away with it until Patricia checked the register. She wasn't really interested in breakfast, but her dad was there, so she forced herself to eat a piece of toast to avoid suspicion.

Taylor shifted uncomfortably under her father's gaze. He didn't speak, just stared at her as if he already knew what she'd done.

"What did you do?"

Immediately she relaxed, he didn't know.

"Who says I did anything? Abby told you I was good."

"It's written all over your face Taylor, I know you're hiding something."

"I don't have to tell you everything." She was just a little pissed that he was able to tell something was going on.

"I'm just giving you the chance to come clean, before I find out, because you know I will."

"You're not very trusting are you?"

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Would you be, in my position?"

She shrugged. "Gotta go. Jason's waiting." With that, she grabbed her backpack and ducked out the back door. If this didn't work, she was so dead!

As soon as her mom marked the register Taylor relaxed. They were home free. If her dad noticed a difference in her mood later that night he didn't mention it, and didn't bring up their earlier conversation again. Her chance to confess was gone, but then she didn't have to now.

The next couple of weeks, passed without any major problems. Taylor had settled into her new homework and revision routine, and as long as she got it over with as soon as she got home it was bearable. Whenever she couldn't be bothered, all she had to do was imagine the look on Hannah's face, if she managed to beat her at anything.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

As soon as the exams were over they got a whole week off school. Taylor had spent most of Saturday with Jason, skating, and just hanging out. Now she was having her dinner early because her mom and dad were going out.

"So who are you going out with?" Taylor managed to get out as she tried to suck up a particularly long piece of spaghetti.

"Angela, sorry Miss Morrison, Jason's teacher, and her friend."

"So Abby's coming over then?"

"She'll be here soon."

"That's good, she said the next time she comes over she'd bring some of her tattoo magazines, and help me pick out my next one."

Patricia smiled to herself. After the discussion Jethro had with Abby about the tattoo she doubted very much that Abby would bring the magazine with her, but wasn't going to tell Taylor, it would only make her more determined to get another one. "Well just make sure your dad knows this time, he wasn't impressed when he saw your spider's web, and make sure it's not on your neck, it might not be quite so bad if you can cover it up."

Taylor let out a loud sigh. "We're only looking, I don't think Abby's gonna volunteer to take me again." She looked up at her mom hopefully with puppy dog eyes. "But you could."

Patricia laughed. "Not a chance, you'll just have to talk your dad into taking you."

"I'll wait till he's in a good mood then." Well, he just might let her, eventually.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs hadn't been too happy about going out with people he'd never met before, but Patricia was determined. So for an easy life, he went. It wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be, and immediately hit it off with Michael who was a keen fisherman. Angela took great pleasure in informing the pair that it was thanks to them they were together. Michael had been the substitute teacher when they were on honeymoon.

"So what did you think of my class then?" Patricia was interested in finding out what he thought about some of her students.

"They were really good. I didn't have a problem with any of them."

"What, not even Taylor?" Gibbs found that a little difficult to believe.

"Taylor? I don't remember a Taylor."

Patricia wasn't exactly pleased that Jethro was trying to label Taylor as a trouble maker, after all she'd been behaving well since just before the wedding. "She doesn't always cause trouble Jethro."

"No she doesn't, but when we got back from honeymoon she looked guilty as hell, and was definitely hiding something. I just thought it might have been something that happened in school."

Michael was still trying to remember who Taylor was. He normally had a really good memory for names and faces, but he was drawing a blank. "What does she look like?"

"Small, auburn hair, sits at the desk right in front of mine."

"You forgot to add smart mouth, short fuse, and hates school with a vengeance." Gibbs added, receiving a glare from Patricia in response.

Michael shook his head. I'm almost positive that desk was empty. Come to think of it there was one student absent all week, but you would have noticed that on the register. I filled it at the end of each day."

"I did check it, there were no absences." It was taking Patricia slightly longer to join all the dots.

They connected slightly faster when Angela added, "That was the same week Jason was off sick."

Jethro had already figured out what their daughter had done to make her so edgy. He waited though, for Patricia to come to the same conclusion.

She turned to him when it finally clicked. "Oh, she wouldn't, would she?"

He just raised an eyebrow at her, there was no point answering that, before looking at Michael. "What are you doing for lunch tomorrow?"


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 8**

Taylor was completely oblivious to the trap being set for her. The only thing on her mind that morning was getting out of the house early to meet Jason. They were gonna head to the woods to see if they could find a hut one of Jason's classmates had been bragging about. She was almost out the door when Patricia stopped her.

"Where're you going?"

"Just to see Jason." Taylor kept walking towards the door.

"Make sure you're back by one." That made her stop and turn.

"I'm not comin' back for lunch."

Her dad picked that moment to appear. "You heard your mom, you'll be back at one."

"But I didn't do anything!" Taylor protested, it almost sounded as if she was grounded. "It's just a waste of time if I have to come back."

"I'm not arguing with you Taylor. Either you agree to be back at one, or you're not going anywhere."

Taylor stared at him for a few seconds, in the hope that he would change his mind, but it wasn't happening. She let out a sigh. "Okay."

Her hand had only touched the door handle when he spoke again. "Don't be late, you don't want me to have to come looking for you."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

One o'clock came and went with no sign of Taylor. It was almost half past and Gibbs had just lifted the car keys when his daughter flew in through the kitchen door. She was breathing hard, and skidded to a halt in front of him. Taylor didn't pay any attention to her mom or the two guests seated at the table. "I know I'm late, but I got lost."

"You got lost where?"

"If I knew that I wouldn't have been lost." When she saw the look on his face she took a step back and hastily added, "Somewhere in the woods."

He looked at the state she was in. Her clothes were absolutely filthy, as was Taylor, and her shirt had a nice new rip the whole way down one of the sides. "What did you do to your clothes?"

Taylor looked down, noticing for the first time the mess she was in. "I fell out of a tree."

"Did you get hurt?"

"Nope, my shirt slowed me down."

Stepping to the side he nodded towards the stairs. "Go take a shower and get changed, then you can eat."

She sped past him, relieved she wasn't in trouble for being late or that he hadn't asked her how high up the tree she'd been when she'd fallen.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Patricia couldn't wait any longer, and as soon as Taylor was safely upstairs she turned to Michael. "Do you recognise her now?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, but she definitely wasn't in my class."

"Jason wasn't in mine either, I have a note from his mother to say he had the flu, but when I went to check the attendance register it had been changed." Angela added.

"So they managed to get into the computer system too." Patricia had been hoping that Jethro had been jumping to conclusions. He hadn't. "You were right all along Jethro.

""Uh huh, now I just want to see the extent she'll go to, to worm her way out of it. Now come on, lets eat."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

By the time Taylor showered and changed she was starving, so she quickly slid onto her chair and started eating, ignoring everyone else, after all, the sooner she finished the sooner she would be able to get back out again. Taylor was a little surprised when she briefly glanced up from her plate and noticed Jason's teacher there, but wasn't overly concerned.

Gibbs looked across the table at his daughter. "Michael was just telling us how much he enjoyed covering your class, while your mom was away."

Taylor's heart skipped a beat, maybe even two. Keeping her eyes locked on her plate, she pretended she hadn't heard, and prayed frantically that her dad hadn't just said what she thought he had. Unfortunately he wasn't going to let it drop.

He tried again. "What did you think, having a different teacher for a while?"

She ignored him, instead trying hard to swallow the piece of bread she had been chewing. It wasn't easy, her mouth had suddenly gone dry.

"Taylor."

"Huh?" Taylor was desperately trying to work out what to say.

He repeated the question. "What did you think about having a different teacher for a while?"

Taylor shrugged. "Doesn't make any difference, still sucks." That would have to do. She could feel everyone watching her, and there was no way she was gonna look up.

"You must have behaved yourself anyway, because Michael doesn't remember you."

"Must have." She pushed her plate away. "Now you've finished checking up on me, can I go?" Taylor could feel the panic starting to build up inside her. She wanted out of here.

"No." He didn't elaborate.

"Why not? It's the weekend, and I don't wanna have to sit here and listen to people talking about school" This time she did lift her head up to look at her father. He didn't look angry. Maybe if she changed the subject. "Can I get another tattoo?"

"No."

"Well I'm savin' up for one, like the one on Abby's back."

"Not happening."

"Wanna bet?" Okay, now he looked angry, maybe that was a bit too extreme.

Patricia thought it would be a good time to interrupt. "Coffee everyone? I'll bring it through into the living room."

Taylor stood up, intending to leave the table like Michael and Angela.

"Sit."

She lowered herself back down.

"What's with the attitude Taylor?" He still looked fairly relaxed, so it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

Patricia had stopped lifting mugs from the cupboard and was watching her now too.

Sliding back in her chair Taylor folded her arms and pouted. "I don't get why I had to come back here, to sit with people I don't know, and just to make it worse they had to be teachers. I'm never gonna be able to find Jason now, he could be anywhere."

"So it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact you decided to take a whole week of school when we weren't here?"

There it was. He'd been trying to trap her. "Just because _'Michael' _doesn't remember me, you think I wasn't there?" If that was all he had, she might just be able to talk herself out of this. All she had to do now, was make sure she didn't actually lie, that would just make everything worse if it blew up in her face. "I thought you wanted me to stay out of trouble!"

"You still haven't told me if you were there or not."

"Where?"

"In Michael's class."

"I shouldn't have to, there is a register you know." See how far they would get with that.

"Taylor, did you go to school while we were away?" He couldn't make it any clearer than that. He wasn't going to let her keep dancing around the questions.

"I'm not gonna answer that." She waited for him to explode. Instead he just went to help Patricia with the tray.

Jethro didn't want to make a scene with the other couple in the house, so decided to let her stew for a while. "Well then, you can just sit there until you do. Don't even think of moving from that chair. You can call me when you're ready to give me an answer.

Taylor glared at the pair of them as they left her alone. Her dad had better be prepared for a long wait, cause she wasn't sayin' anything.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 9**

Taylor sat for a while listening to them laugh and joke in the next room. She was filling up with not quite, so righteous indignation. How could they think she would cut school, just because someone didn't remember her. That was just, just, for a moment she couldn't think of a word to describe it. She settled on one of her favourites. It was unfair! The longer Taylor listened to them having a good time the angrier she became, but there wasn't exactly anything she could do about it. She had not yet reached the point where she would be willing to move. That would only make her look guilty, so for now she was staying put.

Patricia appeared when Taylor had been sitting there for almost an hour, to put some more coffee on.

"Mom?"

Patricia finished scooping the coffee into the machine and turned to face her.

"Can I get up now?"

"That depends, are you ready to answer your dad's question?"

"I already said I shouldn't have to answer that."

Patricia shrugged. "Well then no, you're going to have to stay there."

"Can I at least go to the bathroom?" Taylor wanted to get her phone to warn Jason.

"Go on, but come straight back."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Her mom was gone by the time Taylor returned, but she took her seat again anyway. She had managed to phone Jason, so at least he wouldn't walk into anything blind. Now it was time to figure out how to save her own butt. Taylor had a nasty suspicion that once Angela and Michael left, her father wouldn't be anywhere near as tolerant of her refusal to answer him. She was running out of time and didn't know what to do. If she owned up she was gonna catch it, and if she lied it would be even worse. No matter how hard she tried, her dad always knew when she was lying, and then his belt would come off. Okay, that was second option scratched out, Taylor wasn't willing to risk that one. That only left her with telling the truth, and her backside wasn't too keen on that idea either. What Taylor needed was a third option. One she found as she scanned the kitchen for inspiration. It might even throw a little guilt her dad's way. Just what he deserved for jumping to conclusions and trying to back her into a corner. By now Taylor had actually convinced herself that she hadn't done anything wrong, and the laughter coming from the living room only made her madder. Why the hell should she have to sit on her own, when they were enjoying themselves. That was it, she was out of here. Grabbing the keys off the hook, Taylor hightailed it out the back door.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor made herself comfortable in Patricia's house. Stretched out on the couch, TV on, and a can of coke from the fridge, was way better than sitting in the kitchen with nothing to do except think. Unfortunately there was no food, she'd just have to get Jason to make a delivery later, then she could stay here as long as she wanted. Choosing a comedy, Taylor pushed any thoughts of being in trouble right to the back of her mind. It was her mom and dad's turn to worry about what they'd done now. See how they liked it!

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs and Patricia waved goodbye to their guests, before going to deal with their daughter. Both had hoped Taylor would come clean, but the length of time she had spent sitting at the table made it fairly obvious that she wasn't going to admit to anything. It was time to bring out the big guns.

When Jethro reached the kitchen however, he discovered his target was missing. The back door was open, but there was no sign of Taylor. His daughter had a real talent for making a bad situation even worse. Instead of getting everything over and done with, now he had to figure out where the hell she was. It was time to pay a Jason a visit, even if he didn't know where Taylor was he might just have a few ideas.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

It wasn't long before Taylor's mobile rang, she checked the display, it was her mom, so she let it ring, again, and again and again. Fed up with the continuous calls, she put the phone on silent. That was better, it was too early to start bargaining, she'd only been gone about an hour, her parents were probably in the furious stage, so they wouldn't listen to her anyway. In another few hours she would call Jason to see if he could get any supplies for her, and hopefully by tomorrow both her dad and mom should be able to see the error of their ways.

When it began to get dark, Taylor began to get hungry. Ignoring the number of missed calls displayed on the screen she called Jason. He picked up immediately.

"I've been trying to call you for almost half an hour now, why didn't you answer?"

"Sorry, it was on silent. I need you to do me a favour."

"Never mind that, I've had your dad over interrogating me, he thinks I know where you are."

"I'm.."

"Don't tell me, I don't want to know. You might not be afraid of your dad but he scares the crap out of me."

"Come on Jason, I'm starving, I just need you to bring me something to eat."

"There's no way I can get out of the house tonight, you're just gonna have to wait until tomorrow. If you've any sense, you'll just come on home now. Your dad's mad enough without you staying away all night."

That didn't sound good. "You sure no one knows where I am?"

"I don't even know where you are, although I could probably guess, I can hear the TV."

"Yeah, well don't tell."

"I won't. Your dad's gone anyway, about fifteen minutes ago. He was asking me a whole load of questions when your mom came running over, don't know why she pulled him out to the car, but I wasn't complaining."

"You won't forget to bring me something to eat in the morning, will you?"

"I won't. Still think you should come home."

"I'm not going home Jason, just because some guy doesn't remember me everyone assumes I cut school."

"But you did!"

"I know I did, but that's not the point!"

"Admit it, you're just pissed they found out, uh oh, gotta go, my mom's coming up."

As soon as Taylor ended the call, her phone vibrated.. Thinking it was Jason again she automatically answered it.

It was her father. "Where are you Taylor? And don't you dare hang up on me!"

Not sure what to say, that's exactly what she did, pressing the end call button.

The instant Taylor pressed the button, she found herself being hauled to her feet and on the receiving end of several hard swats.

"Do you ever do what you're told?"


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 10**

When her father turned her round to face him, Taylor quickly realised two things. One, those smacks had really hurt, and she didn't want any more, and two, her dad had probably overheard her talking to Jason about what she'd done, so she needed to confess. Fast.

"Okay, I did it. I didn't go to school when you were away." She spoke so quickly her tongue nearly tripped itself up. Taylor had hoped that might have calmed him down a bit. She was disappointed.

"Too late."

Gibbs glanced behind him as Patricia walked into the room, and Taylor used the distraction to take a step back and rub her butt.

"Right now I'm more interested in the fact you were planning on staying here all night, just to make us worry."

Taylor looked from her dad, who looked furious, to her mom who just looked hurt.

There wasn't much she could say to that. Staring at the floor she shuffled her feet. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't sound very sorry when you were on the phone to Jason. I take it that it was Jason you were talking to. AS USUAL, YOU'RE JUST SORRY YOU GOT CAUGHT!" Trying to control his temper he lowered his voice, and pointed to a corner. "Get your nose in the corner."

When Taylor did what she was told, he sat down beside Patricia on the couch. She reached out for his hand, and squeezed it gently, to reassure him. He gave her a small smile, then focused on trying to calm himself down.

Taylor stared at the two walls. At least the paint was different. That gave her something to think about for all of five seconds, before her mind drifted back to the mess she was in. One of these days she was gonna learn not to run. The room was completely silent so she leant forward and rested her head against the cool walls.

Gibbs barked at her, "Stand up straight".

She jumped at the command, but at least now she knew her dad was still in the room. Hopefully her mom was still there, he might go easier on her if she was there. Taylor closed her eyes, who was she trying to kid, that wouldn't make any difference. Patricia was bound to be really pissed about the whole school thing, and she was lethal with a wooden spoon. What the hell had she been thinking? When did she ever get away with anything? On the other hand they had come so close to getting away with cutting school. If her mom and dad hadn't met the substitute teacher they would never have found out. Aw ****! She'd forgotten all about changing the attendance record, her mom was gonna go nuts, and if they found out about that, it might put Jason in the shit too. Taylor was snapped out of her frantic thinking by her dad's voice.

"You can come out now."

She turned round, Both her parents were sitting on the sofa. Taylor didn't move any closer until her father pointed at the floor in front of him.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry, it was a dumb thing to do, I shouldn't have run off."

"Why'd you do it?"

Taylor shrugged. "I was angry."

That was not the answer he had been expecting. "Why? Because we found out you ditched school?"

"No… well, maybe a bit."

"What then?"

"Cause I was ambushed. That wasn't nice!"

"I gave you the chance to own up, just after we got home, remember?"

She nodded. "Still wasn't nice." Her eyes dropped to watch her feet as she kicked at the floor.

"Why'd you hang up on me?" Gibbs figured he might as well keep going with the questions, at least his daughter was answering."

"I thought it was Jason, I wasn't expecting you."

Taylor watched her father stand up then disappear behind her. Her mom stayed where she was.

"Did Jason know where you were hiding?"

"No, he told me to come home." She should have listened to him.

"If he didn't know where you were, why did you call him?

"I was hungry." Taylor glared at her mom. "You really need to get some food in, I could have starved you know!"

"Ow!" She hadn't seen that swat coming. "What was that for? I was just sayin'."

"Watch the attitude! If you're hungry it's your own fault."

Her dad moved from behind her and sat on the arm of the couch.

He folded his arms. "What about cutting school, where did you go?"

"Here. It wasn't dangerous!"

"All week?"

She nodded.

"Were you on your own?"

Taylor just stared at him.

"Taylor! Were you on your own?"

"No." she whispered.

"Who?"

Shaking her head she looked down at the floor again.

"Okay, we'll come back to that one later. Is there anything else you want to tell us about skipping school?"

Taylor looked guiltily towards her mom. She had no other choice, there was a good chance they already knew. "I used your laptop to change the attendance record." Not waiting to see her reaction she dropped her eyes again.

"Just yours?" Her mom asked as she stood up and walked over to the window.

Damn it, they might already know about Jason. "No."

"Whose?"

Again she just shook her head.

"Answer your mom Taylor." When she didn't speak he stood up and reached for her.

Taylor didn't move, she just whispered, "Jason's"

Gibbs sat down again, this time on the couch. "Did you have anything to do with the letter he took into school, saying he had been sick?"

They had known about Jason all along. "I signed it."

"Anything else?"

She thought for a moment before answering. "No." Chewing nervously on her bottom lip she picked up the courage to ask what she really wanted to know. "What are you gonna do?"

"What do you think I'm gonna do?"

"Ground me?"

"You think that's enough?"

"Yeah." There was no way she was going to get away with just being grounded, but she could always hope.

"Well I don't. I think you've earned yourself a spanking for running and hiding just to try and scare us. You're gonna get that now."

Taylor felt her eyes already starting to tear up. "I don't want…."

Her dad held his finger up to stop her. "I know you don't want spanked, but I'm not finished yet Taylor. Instead of making the most of next week when you're off school, you're gonna sit at the table and do every last piece of work your mom left for the class when she was away. Then straight after dinner you can go to bed. At the end of the week, you'll get another spanking for cutting school in the first place, hacking into the school records and forging a signature for Jason."

Taylor turned round to plead with her mom, but closed her mouth quickly when she saw the determined look on her face.

"Don't look at me like that Taylor, you're not going to get any sympathy from me, your dad's right. I think you're lucky to get away with that, you deserve a lot more."

She was still processing what her mom had just said when her dad reached out and pulled her to his side.

"Pants."

"Can't I keep them, just this time?"

"Not gonna ask you again." He warned.

With no other option, she unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them down to her knees. As soon as her pants were lowered, she found herself tipped over his knees.

"Give me your hand." When Taylor resisted he just gave her behind a sharp smack, making her automatically throw her hand back to stop any more making contact. Trapping her hand in his, he started to spank, hard and fast. It must have been about a dozen swats before Taylor couldn't hold back the tears any longer, and a lot more before she started to wriggle and tried to push herself off his lap. It didn't make any difference though, she wasn't going anywhere. The heat in her backside was just reaching that unbearable point, when he lowered her shorts. That really made her panic, and she renewed her attempt at escape. But, like before, there was nothing she could do to avoid his hand. The only way this spanking was gonna stop was when her father decided it would. By the time he'd finished Taylor was sobbing hard, and convinced she'd never be able to sit down again. She felt her shorts being replaced before being lifted back onto her feet, and when she didn't pull up her pants her dad did that for her too, carefully zipping them up and buttoning them. Leaning in towards him, Taylor cried herself out.

When she finally stopped, Gibbs ruffled her hair. "You still hungry?"

Taylor nodded, and sniffed loudly.

"We'll pick something up on the way home then."

"Pizza?" For a moment Taylor was able to think of her stomach, and not her butt."

Patricia answered, "I think we can manage that."

Taylor looked round at her mom who had walked up behind her, she didn't look angry anymore.

"With pineapple?"

Her mom nodded. "With pineapple." She held out her hand for Taylor to take, "Come on, you're making me hungry now too."

Gibbs watched the pair leave the room, and shouted after them. "Don't I get any say in this?"

Both Taylor and Patricia answered at the same time. "NO."


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 11**

Taylor was in foul form the next morning, as she sat at the table, pencil in hand and pile of work to get through. She just couldn't bring herself to start, so when someone knocked on the front door she dropped the pencil and raced to answer it. It was Jason.

"You're not grounded?" Taylor wasn't impressed that she wasn't allowed out and he was.

Patricia came up behind her. "Come on in Jason."

Confused, Taylor followed them both into the kitchen. Her mom directed him to the chair at the table and set a stack of work as big as hers in front of him.

"You too?"

Jason nodded.

"You're not here to talk Taylor, now sit down and get back to work." For a moment Patricia thought her daughter was going to object, but she sat down without a fuss.

Neither Jason or Taylor spoke until Patricia left the room.

"I didn't say anything about you, they already knew everything." Taylor was afraid he was gonna blame her.

"I know, I just wish your dad would stop givin' mine ideas." He shook his head when he looked at the work in front of him.

"Sorry. Your butt sore too?"

"Oh yeah," Jason grinned at her. "It was still one hell of a week though, wasn't it?"

She grinned. "Yep."

When her mom came in a few minutes later to check they had started Taylor looked at her hopefully. "Can we go when we're done?"

Patricia looked at the two piles of work she'd left out for them. There was no way they were going to get through that today. "You can go as long as you finish all of it." There. That was one way to avoid an argument later.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"You think we'll have to do this all week?" Jason asked. "Or will we only have to do it for a couple of days?"

"Oh it's definitely gonna be the whole week. They were kinda mad."

"So we really have to do this shit?"

Taylor shrugged. "We have to do it. No one said we have to do it right, besides my mom probably won't even mark it, so what's the point?"

"Don't think you'll get away with that one."

"We'll see." Taylor lifted a sheet from the top of her pile. Math problems. Quickly scanning through the questions she scribbled down random numbers in the answer boxes. Then changed her mind and erased them.

"Might look better if the top couple of sheets have the right answers." She spent thirty minutes working out the answers, before placing them to one side, and waiting for Jason to finish his.

"So, are you gonna sit here and fill in the right answers like a good little boy, or are you let us get out of here after lunch?" She wasn't gonna do this on her own.

At first he didn't answer, and Taylor thought he was going to refuse.

"Okay, we'll do it your way, but we don't go until this afternoon, if we leave early it'll be too obvious.

Taylor grinned at him and lifted the next worksheet.

All morning it looked as if they were working hard. Patricia was impressed, and made sure Jethro knew how well it was going when he phoned to check up on them.

As soon as lunch was over and Patricia left them to it, Taylor and Jason hit the books again, flying through the remaining questions. Taylor finished first and waited for Jason, before putting the correctly answered work on top and making sure he did the same. Without telling Patricia they were finished, they disappeared out the kitchen door, and headed to the woods.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor was feeling pretty pleased with herself as they walked home again. This time she had been able to climb the tree without falling. It may have taken a few attempts and a few more rips in her clothes, but now Jason couldn't say that he was the only one who could do it.

They split up where they always did, at the bottom of Jason's drive and Taylor didn't notice her mom standing in the doorway until she was half way up the path.

She slowed down, but didn't stop. "What? I'm not late!"

"In." Patricia moved to the side, to allow Taylor to walk past, swatting her hard as she did so.

Taylor spun round. "What the hell was that for? I'm still sore you know!"

That just earned her another smack as Patricia spun her back round again. "Watch your mouth."

Patricia closed the door and set the alarm before turning to face her daughter. "If you're still sore you should have thought about that earlier, and you know exactly what it's for." Grabbing her arm she pulled Taylor into the kitchen. "Sit down."

Taylor sat down and pointed to the mass of paper. "You said we could go when we were finished."

Her mom didn't answer immediately. For a few moments she just stared at her, making her feel uncomfortable, but not sorry.

"You just put down the first thing that came into your head didn't you?"

"No."

"Don't lie to me Taylor, or am I going to have to get the wooden spoon out?"

Taylor glanced at the jar on the counter. Her chopped up spoon had been replaced by a new one. She shook her head. "No, you don't have to do that. We answered some of them properly."

Whatever her mom was going to say next was interrupted by a knock on the front door. Patricia went to answer it, and Taylor took the opportunity to grab the spoon, and toss it out through the back door. She had only slipped back onto her seat again when a sheepish looking Jason appeared and sat beside her.

"Told you it wouldn't work!" He whispered as Patricia approached.

Taylor just kicked him under the table.

Patricia stood in front of them arms folded. Taylor figured she was trying to make them feel guilty. It must have worked on Jason.

Blushing, he uttered a very contrite "Sorry."

For that Taylor kicked him again, but stayed silent.

"What about you?" She had Taylor in her sights now.

Scowling, she looked up at her mom. "We finished, so we left. You said we could." Then she folded her arms just like Patricia.

This time it was Jason's turn to kick Taylor.

Taylor kicked him back, and glared at him. "Well she did!"

Trying to avoid a full scale war, Patricia handed them both an eraser. "We'll talk about this later. Now get rid of the wrong answers."

Jason did as he was told, but Taylor looked at the pages. "How are we supposed to know which ones are wrong? You haven't marked any!"

"Well then you can just do every last one again tomorrow."

Taylor was just about to object when Jason whispered something into her ear, and she immediately started rubbing out her answers.

Patricia didn't hear what he said, but was grateful for whatever it was.

All three looked up as the front door opened and closed.

Jason had been right, he had heard a car pull up.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 12**

Gibbs took in the scene before him, and was tempted just to turn around and go back to work. The two kids at the table were frantically rubbing answers from sheets of paper, and both looked as if they had been dragged through a hedge backwards. His wife was overseeing the activity and looked ready to pounce if either child moved.

Sighing, he took off his jacket and hung it over the back of a chair. "What's going on?"

All three sported a different expression. Patricia's was angry, Jason's guilty, and Taylor's mutinous.

No one answered.

"Taylor?"

"Nothin'"

"Jason?"

"We're fixing the questions we got wrong." That was all the information he was willing to give.

He was just about to ask Patricia next, but when he saw the glare she was giving Taylor he decided to wait. "Go on home Jason, you can finish that tomorrow."

Relieved he was getting out of there, Jason didn't waste time by walking through the house, instead he chose to use the back door.

Filling a mug with coffee, Jethro sat down and waited for somebody to explain.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor set the eraser down and stood up. If Jason was done, so was she. This however just directed her dad's attention to her ripped and muddy clothes.

"Have you been climbing trees again?"

Taylor stopped making her way round the table. Her father would stop her anyway if she didn't answer. "Yeah.""Care to explain how you managed to do that when you were supposed to be right here all day?"

"We were allowed to go when we were finished."

"Didn't look as if you were finished when I walked in."

"Yeah well, maybe we made a few mistakes."

"A few?" Patricia had heard enough. "You made up most of the answers!"

Taylor glared at her mom. "That's just bullshit! You didn't even mark them!"

Jethro reached for his daughter, but Patricia beat him to it. Taylor didn't stand a chance, and yelped as her mom's hand connected with the seat of her jeans.

"That's the second time today I've had to warn you about your language, it better be the last, because the next time it won't be my hand! Now go take a shower and put your pyjamas on. When you've got a hold of that temper of yours, you can come down for dinner."

Taylor didn't look at her father as she stalked past him and up the stairs.

As soon as he heard the bedroom door slam Jethro went to stand behind Patricia who was now looking out the window into the yard. Reaching round he gave her a reassuring hug. "So how was your day?"

She playfully smacked him on the arm. "How about tomorrow I take the easy job catching killers and you can stay with Taylor?" She pointed out the window. "If you want dinner tonight though, you're going to have to rescue the wooden spoon from the yard."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

The shower didn't improve Taylor's temper. She wasn't even sure what she was angry about, but she knew that she didn't want to go downstairs and risk them ganging up on her. It had been hard enough to deal with her dad when she was in trouble, now she didn't know where a stray swat might come from. Taylor slipped on a pair of pyjamas and grabbed her ipod, before climbing into bed and pulling the quilt over her head.

Taylor had been lying there stewing for almost an hour when she felt someone sit down on the bed beside her. Ignoring it, she concentrated on the music blaring from her earphones, well she tried to anyway, until the duvet was pulled back.

She pulled the buds from her ears, but didn't turn round. "What?"

"Your dinner's ready." It was her dad.

"I'm not hungry." Taylor pulled the cover over her head again and felt the mattress move as he stood up. When she heard her door click shut she put the earphones back on and turned up the volume. "******* didn't even care if she starved. Didn't matter if she'd said she wasn't hungry, she was. He should have known that."

Patricia was just setting the plates out when Jethro returned without Taylor.

"Says she's not hungry." He sat down at the table.

"She's really mad at me isn't she?" Patricia was feeling a little guilty about swatting her.

"Taylor's not angry with you, she's mad at herself. She just hasn't figured that out yet, and that stubborn streak of hers doesn't help. She just better have realised that by tomorrow, or she's gonna have a lot more to huff about."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor must have fallen asleep. When she woke up around two, both her ipod and the house were silent. Now she was really, really hungry, so after plugging her ipod in to charge, she made her way down to the kitchen. As she sat at the table eating her bowl of cereal she stared at the two piles of paper, all neatly arranged for tomorrow. There was nothing worse than having to do something you really didn't want to do. Taylor couldn't understand how Jason gave in so easily sometimes. He'd always been like that though. Ever since they'd been really small, he'd always been the first to own up when they'd done something wrong. Taylor could just picture him tomorrow, sitting at the table working away without complaint. The thought made her angry. There was no way he would help her try and avoid their punishment after today. Taylor gave up on her Rice Krispies and rinsed out the bowl. Damn it, she couldn't get away with anything in this house anymore. There was the wooden spoon, sitting in the jar again. Disgusted, Taylor left the kitchen and threw herself down on the couch beside the fire. It was enclosed by a fire guard, but still gave off plenty of heat, and enough light so she didn't have to switch on the lamp. For a while she just stared at the little flames dancing around, it wouldn't be long before it burnt itself out.

In her temper fuelled mood, Taylor did something stupid. Something she knew she would end up regretting, but right now she didn't care. It would make her feel better now, and that was all that mattered. Sneaking back into the kitchen she lifted the two piles of paper, then as an afterthought added the wooden spoon, before carrying them into the living room. Taylor lifted the guard away, and sat with her legs crossed in front of the fire, then began to feed the flames, page by page. By the time all the paper, and finally the wooden spoon were nothing but ash, Taylor was feeling much better, and replaced the guard before going back to bed. Who would have guessed watching a fire would have been so therapeutic? She'd have to remember that one, the next time she got angry.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 13**

"Get up!"

Taylor rolled over sleepily and looked at her clock. "Go away dad, it's too early."

Before she had the opportunity to turn away again Taylor found herself pulled to her feet. Now she was awake.

"Where is it?"

She rubbed her eyes. "Where's what?" She'd forgotten all about her impromptu bonfire the night before.

Taylor swallowed hard as her dad grabbed the front of her pyjama top and leaned down until his face was only inches from hers. "The work you and Jason are supposed to do today."

It all came flooding back. "Oh, that. I, ah, don't have it."

He released her and took a step to the side. "Go get it."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

Taylor sat down on the bed. "I was mad, so I ….."

"YOU WHAT?"

That was loud. She looked up at her dad, but couldn't bring herself to answer, instead she chewed on her bottom lip, and tried to stop herself from crying. It wasn't working.

His daughter's tears calmed Gibbs down a bit. This time he didn't shout. "If you can't tell me what you did, then show me where you put them."

Taylor nodded, and dried the tears with her pyjama sleeve before leading him downstairs. She stopped in the living room, and pointed to the fireplace, hanging her head so she couldn't see his reaction.

"You burnt them?"

"I told you, I was mad."

Gibbs could see Taylor's temper had gone, it was just a pity it hadn't disappeared before she'd turned into an arsonist. "You're gonna have to tell your mom."

"Can't you tell her? She's gonna be really pi.. angry."

"I don't blame her, you deserve whatever you get. Don't be surprised if she pulls out the wooden spoon you threw into the yard last night."

Taylor shook her head. "She won't do that."

"What makes you think that"? His daughter was being a bit too optimistic, Patricia was absolutely furious.

"Cause I burnt the spoon too."

That confession did not come as a great surprise, but he wanted this settled before he went to work. "Go on, your mom's in the kitchen." He gave her a gentle nudge in the right direction.

Taylor walked slowly to the kitchen, but stopped in the doorway and looked back at her father. "You're not gonna let her kill me, are you?"

Gibbs pointed towards the kitchen. "Go!"

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Patricia was leaning against the sink and staring out the window when Taylor came up behind her.

"Mom?"

When Patricia turned around Taylor moved back, boy did she look mad.

"What did you do with it?"

"I burnt it." There it was out. "I'm sorry." Her apology didn't soften her mom's expression.

"You thought that was going to get you out of working today?"

Taylor shook her head. "I was angry, I just did it."

"You know I can't let you get away with that, or the way you behaved yesterday."

"Why not? I'm not gonna do it again."

"That's good to hear, but I want to make sure you don't."

Gibbs appeared at the door and cleared his throat to attract Taylor's attention. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Huh?"

He nodded towards the jar on the counter.

"Oh, yeah." She turned back to her mom. "I burnt your spoon too."

Patricia didn't say anything for a moment, and Taylor hoped she was rethinking the whole punishment thing.

"Go get dressed."

What did that mean? Was she off the hook? Taylor watched Patricia pick up her car keys.

"Where're you going?"

"To buy another wooden spoon."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor did as she was told, not wanting to make her mom any angrier. Her dad wasn't letting her out of his sight once she came downstairs again, he probably thought she was going to make a break for freedom. Without her temper though, that was highly unlikely, so she sat close beside him on the couch and waited.

"Do you think she might change her mind on the way back?" She asked hopefully.

"Don't think so. You really crossed the line." It wasn't often he got to play good cop. It was much easier than the alternative.

"Maybe they won't have any."

"Maybe, but they probably do. You'd just better hope your mom doesn't find somewhere that sells bigger ones."

She looked up at him in horror. "You get bigger ones?"

"Oh yeah, giant wooden spoons. Haven't you seen one before?"

Taylor shook her head.

"Well make sure you remember that the next time you're tempted to destroy another one."

Taylor was actually relieved when her mom returned. There was no way there was a giant spoon in that paper bag.

"It's not a big one." She whispered to her father.

"You're lucky."

She didn't feel so lucky though, when Patricia called her into the kitchen.

Her mom had just pulled her down across her lap when Gibbs appeared.

"Wait a minute, stand up Taylor, you're not gonna feel anything through those jeans. Drop them."

So much for picking the thickest pair she had. This time she had the good sense to do what she was told, and not tell her dad exactly what she thought of his suggestion. Taylor did not, under any circumstances, want Jason to walk in when she was being spanked, so she wanted it to be over as fast as possible.

The first whack reminded her just how much that thing could sting, and just as before it didn't take many swats until she was crying. Taylor tried her hardest not to struggle, but once the heat in backside built up, she couldn't help herself. It wasn't long after this point when they heard a knock at the front door. Patricia stopped and helped Taylor up.

"Let's get you upstairs and cleaned up before Jason sees you." Taking Taylor by the hand she took her upstairs and sat on the edge of the bath while she washed her face.

"No more stupid stunts Taylor, I don't want to have to do that again any time soon."

Taylor sniffed. "I'm sorry. It's hard to think straight when I'm angry."

"Why were you angry? Was it because you were being punished?"

She shook her head. "Cause I was dumb. I should have known you'd figure out what we'd done and I should've listened to Jason. I talked him into it, and got him into trouble too."

Patricia reached out and pulled Taylor onto her knee, brushing the damp hair away from her eyes. "It's not your fault Jason got into trouble, he can make his own decisions, just like you do. I'm sure he's talked you into doing stupid things before."

"Suppose." Taylor had lost count of the number of times that had happened.

"I'm sure Jason's not mad at you, and maybe in future, between the two of you, you can think things through a bit more, and make the right decision." Patricia waited for a moment while Taylor thought about it. "Now, are you ready to go back down?"

Nodding, Taylor followed her towards the stairs. "Mom, you wouldn't really get a bigger spoon would you?"


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 14**

It didn't take Patricia long to print out more worksheets, and pretty soon Taylor and Jason were back to work. Jason kept stealing glances over at Taylor as she squirmed about in her chair.

"Have you given up trying to avoid this?" He tapped the paper in front of him with his pencil. "No more brilliant ideas?"

Taylor shrugged. "Might as well just do it, and get it over with."

Jason wasn't sure to believe what she was saying. He answered a few more questions on his sheet then looked across at her again. "Okay, what did you get spanked for?"

Blushing, Taylor answered, but kept her eyes trained on her work. "I burnt everything."

"Figured there was some reason why you can't sit still."

"Yeah well, my mom wasn't exactly happy about it."

Jason grinned. "I wish I could of seen her face when she found out.""No you don't, believe me. It was not good. Now quit talkin' and let me finish this."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

The rest of the week passed smoothly. No arguments, no tantrums, no trouble. Taylor was looking forward to the weekend. The thought that everyone else had been doing whatever they wanted all week, had been hard to think about, but now it was Friday night. All the work they had been given was complete, and they would be able to make the most of Saturday and Sunday. Taylor didn't even mind going to bed early, it would give her time to figure out exactly what she wanted to do.

As she emerged from her bathroom though, all thoughts about the weekend vanished, as she froze at the sight of her dad, sitting waiting for her on the bed. Well, to be more precise, it wasn't so much him, but the belt he was holding in his hand. Taylor had forgotten that she still hadn't been punished for actually skipping school.

"You know I stick up for you when people call you a pain in the ass, I'm gonna have to rethink that one."

"I can live with that." He crooked his finger at her.

Taylor slowly made her way over and sat beside him.

"Do you remember what this is for?"

Her eyes were drawn to the strip of leather. "You're supposed to use it to hold your pants up."

"You know that's not what I meant Taylor." The smart mouth was still there, but at least she wasn't losing her temper.

She sighed. "Because I didn't go to school."

"What else?"

"I changed the register and helped Jason with his note."

"Good. I don't expect to have to remind you again. Is that clear?

Taylor nodded and her dad pulled her over his knee. She reached her hand round for him to hold, then looked back at him.

"Don't forget I didn't lie."

"I know. That's the only reason you're keeping your pants." Raising the belt, he was just about to land the first lick when Taylor spoke again."

"And we didn't do anything dangerous."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"Don't forget that I'm not exactly gonna get the chance to do it again, it's kinda hard when your mom's a teacher."

"That it?"

Taylor frantically searched through her memory to see if she could come up with anything else. She couldn't.

"That's it. OW!" It might not sting like her mom's spoon, but it hurt just as much, and she knew from previous experience the effects would last a lot longer. Taylor tried not to fight him, she wanted to keep her pyjama pants, although they didn't seem to be doing a hell of a lot of good right now. By the time her dad had covered her backside twice, Taylor decided she'd had enough, and managed to pull one of her hands free and tried to push herself off his lap. It didn't work, but at least the swats stopped. She stopped struggling and waited for her father to let her up. It didn't happen.

"I can't get up until you let go!" Taylor wriggled a bit to prove her point.

"If you think we're done, you're wrong. I'm waiting for you to give me your hand. How many times have you cut school in the past year?"

"Taylor thought it best not to answer.

"I'm gonna make sure you remember this, the next time the thought even crosses your mind."

Taylor couldn't understand how that sentence could make her butt burn even more, but it did. She started to cry, but kept her hand where it was.

"Not gonna wait all night Taylor, now either give me your hand or your pants are coming down." He gave her a moment to do what she'd been told, but that didn't happen.

"Okay, stand…." Gibbs didn't get a chance to finish before Taylor reached her hand back.

If Taylor had thought her ass was on fire earlier, that was nothing compared to what it felt like by the time her dad was finished. He held her and let her cry into his shirt until she was all out of tears.

Eventually Taylor let go of him. "I can still go out tomorrow, can't I?"

"Uh huh. You gonna stay out of trouble?"

Taylor nodded before slipping under the covers. No matter how much her backside hurt right now, at least she knew that was it over and done with. It wasn't easy, but Taylor found a comfortable position and closed her eyes, then mumbled, "Night dad."

"Night Taylor." Gibbs lifted his belt and stood up, before reaching for the light switch. The room went dark. He thought for a moment before switching it back on. "So who exactly calls me a pain in the ass?"


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

**Chapter 15**

The following week, Taylor's class were given the results of their exams. Taylor glanced quickly at her grades for each subject and her position in the class, before turning towards Hannah to watch for her reaction.

Oh yeah, there it was. Hannah's expression changed from excited anticipation, to very confused in the space of a few seconds. She checked the results one more time before raising her hand.

"Mrs Gibbs? I think you made a mistake!"

Patricia called her up to the front desk, and checked the report card for mistakes. "No, it's right Hannah." Taylor had the perfect view from her seat.

"But…I always…who beat me in science and history?"

"That would be me."

Hannah spun round. "I don't believe you! You're lying!"

Taylor smiled at her. "Ya think?" She held up her results for the other girl to see.

Narrowing her eyes, Hannah took the couple of steps to where Taylor was sitting. "You cheated!" That was the only explanation she could come up with.

"Did not!" Taylor stood up to face her.

"You must have! What did you do? You saw the questions before the test!" Hannah was absolutely livid, and when Taylor just smiled smugly and shook her head she completely lost it. Before Patricia could stop her, Hannah lunged at Taylor, knocking her to the floor, and landing on top of her. Taylor wasn't going to fight back and end up getting walloped with that flamin' spoon again, so she braced herself for the punch she knew was coming. Hannah's fist made contact just under Taylor's left eye, but she didn't get a chance to strike again. Patricia dragged the bigger girl off her daughter and out of the classroom, door slamming behind them.

When the door opened a few minutes later it wasn't her mom, it was the school secretary, she'd been sent to keep an eye on them until Patricia returned. It did not look good for Hannah, Taylor had a pretty good idea what was going on, having made a few trips to the Principal's office herself, and was relieved it wasn't her waiting for her dad to come pick her up. She didn't have a lot of time to think about what was happening with Hannah though, as the school nurse was the next to appear, calling Taylor out of class to check her over.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor was sitting on the examination table, in the nurse's office, swinging her legs and holding a blue cold pack to her eye, when her mom appeared.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded.

"Let me have a look."

Taylor lowered the gel pouch to show her mom the impressive bruise that was forming around her eye.

"Are you mad at me?" This 'not being the one in trouble' was a whole new experience to Taylor.

"No, I'm not angry. I'm proud of you, you didn't let her goad you into fighting. You didn't lose your temper either, that's really good."

"It is?"

"It's good. Now put that back on your eye again, you don't want it swelling up any more."

"Is Hannah back in class?"

"No, she's going to be suspended for a few days."

"She really wanted to come first didn't she?" Taylor was feeling a little bit guilty.

Patricia sat up on the table and put her arm around her. "That doesn't excuse the way she attacked you."

"I know, but if it's that important to her, maybe I should just let her. I don't really care that much about grades."

"Just get that idea out of your head right now, it wouldn't be fair to either of you. Hannah has to learn that she can't get her own way all the time, and you wouldn't get the grades you deserve."

"Suppose."

"You know your dad's going to be really impressed when you show him your report card."

Taylor looked at her, surprised. "You didn't tell him already?"

Patricia shook her head. "No, I thought you'd like to do that."

She grinned. "He'll probably think I faked it."

"No he won't, he knows how hard you've been working." She slid off the table. "Are you ready to go back now?"

"Are you sure I shouldn't just go home? It does hurt you know, and it doesn't seem very fair that Hannah gets to go home and I don't."

"Not a chance, I think you've missed enough school this year. Nice try though." She smiled at her daughter and helped her down. "Besides, Hannah may be going home, but I'm sure you wouldn't want to be in her shoes right now."

Taylor nodded, before following her back to the classroom. Her mom was right, some things were just not worth the consequences.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor disappeared with Jason immediately after school, and when she came back for dinner her dad was already sitting at the table.

"Go on, let him see it." Patricia handed her the report card and gently pushed Taylor towards her father.

Gibbs braced himself and waited to find out what his daughter had done now. By the look of the black eye she was sporting, it wasn't going to be good.

Taylor took one last look over her shoulder at her mom before going to stand in front of him and handing him the card.

He didn't look at it immediately, instead he reached over and turned her head to the side to get a better look at the bruise on her face.

"How'd you get the shiner?" Her body language was confusing him. Yeah, she looked nervous, but one of her biggest 'tells' when she had done something wrong, was the fact she wouldn't get anywhere within arms reach of him.

"Hannah hit me."

Still to sign of guilt. He looked past her to Patricia who nodded towards the card he was holding and glared at him. He had a nasty feeling he was the one in trouble now, so quickly dropped the interrogation and began to read Taylor's report. He glanced up briefly at his daughter who was now chewing her lip nervously, and read it for a second time.

He grinned at her. "You really got these grades?"

Taylor returned his smile and nodded, visibly relaxing as he pulled her over to sit on his lap.

"Who'd have guessed it, our daughter the scientist. Abby's gonna love that."

"She will?"

"Oh yeah, if you're not careful she'll be ordering a lab coat for you and wanting you to help her out."

Taylor giggled at the thought. "You're just winding me up!"

"Maybe just a little, but you worked really hard, how about a movie tonight to celebrate?"

Okay, this was weird. "What, on a school night?" She looked at her mom, who hadn't objected.

He kissed the top of her head. "Don't worry about that, I'll have a word with your teacher, I'm sure she'll make an exception this time."

Taylor looked from one to the other, not sure what to think. This stayin' out of trouble thing, could actually end up being worth the effort.


End file.
